compassion…

It’s everywhere… no, not actual compassion, but people saying that we need to have more… I read an article the other day which announced that ‘compassion’ will be the word of 2017 because the world is in real need of people showing more compassion…

Why is that? Have we forgotten to do it? Or have we just never done it enough and now it’s become a big problem?

And what does it actually mean to have compassion??

It seems to incorporate so many things… empathy, understanding, caring, learning from each other, having meaningful relationships, working together. And to do all of that well, you need to be strong… and maybe even strong-minded.

A friend of mine described compassion as showing strength through having an understanding for others’ situations and reactions without judging and having the courage to take actions for others without considering the effects or consequences it might have on yourself.

I have met so many people on my travels who fit that description… people with heaps and heaps of compassion, people who care about all humans, about our natural world, about our planet… and taking clever action. They are more curious, flexible and have such optimism – and I have learnt so much from them.

But it seems that there are not enough people like this in the world… otherwise we wouldn’t be crying out of everyone to have more compassion, right?

I never really thought of myself as a particularly compassionate person, but I have found that patience and understanding comes much easier to me when I am not stressed at work and when I have headspace and time to think… I guess that is not surprising to anyone… So maybe we should ‘just’ take that time, allow ourselves the space and make deliberate efforts to care more, to understand better…?

I don’t have answers to any of the questions I have posed… it just makes me wonder and reflect… but I do know I would like people to describe me as compassionate in the future, so I will make an effort!